Chapter 16
"So?" Mandy Brocklehurst's eyebrows were practically buried into her hairline at this point as she waited for Grace's answer. "Are they coming or not?"
Grace glanced up from her paper, jumping back slightly when she noticed how close the dark haired girl was, leaning over the arm of her couch with wide eyes.
"Sorry, who?" Grace asked, leaning away from her housemate.
"Oh my God, Abbot, pay attention!" She whined, "Malfoy... Berkshire... all your new friends you've been hanging out with?"
"Hah!" Isobel MacDougal laughed, earning a glare from her roommate. "She means is Theodore coming."
"Oh, yeah! Him too." Mandy nodded, her skin blotching red as she turned back to Grace.
"Get over this, Mandy, as if any of them would even glance your way. With your dirty blood." She teased, throwing herself onto the couch beside her friend. "Is that just all they talk about when you're with them? I don't know how you spend so much time with them..."
Grace paused, ignoring the smirk pulling at Terry's face at the Ravenclaw girl's words.
"No, they don't... they never talk about..." She trailed off, thinking back to her and Draco tucked into the booth in the Leaky Cauldron. "I haven't asked them. About the party."
"Good." Terry nodded and Grace didn't have to turn to know that the groan that spilled from his lips was from Leah's elbow to his ribcage.
"Well... I think you should. I mean... They're your friends, right?" Mandy pressed on and though Isobel rolled her eyes once again, there was still half a smile pulled to her face.
"Oh, just invite them, Grace. Can't hurt, can it? And it'll give Mandy some piece of mind when Theodore Nott rejects her once and for all."
"You're such snob." Mandy snapped, "You do hang out with them a lot, don't you, Grace? Does he ever talk about... anyone? Girls?"
Grace could feel a heavy weight pulling at her chest at the girls words, and she offered her a shrug before dropping her book and parchment to the coffee table.
"I don't know. No. Not really." She stuttered, avoiding Leah and Terry's eyes. "I'll go ask them now, then... before curfew." And without another word, she spun towards the exit and hurried out into the chilly, empty corridor.
She didn't know what had bothered her more... Mandy pining over her friend... friends... or Isobel acting like they were all blood supremacists.
Because they might be.
She shook her head twice, violently, until the voice had disappeared and hurried down the rest of the steps, glancing at her watch. It wasn't curfew yet, but with the empty hallways and the moonlight falling in through every window she passed, it felt much later.
Finally, she reached the familiar hallway at the bottom of all of the staircases, walking towards the empty space where she knew the door would appear... if she could only figure out the password.
She hadn't been down to the Slytherin common room in over two weeks, since their victory party, and she was sure they would have changed the password by now... if she could even have remembered the old one...
She glanced around the empty hallway and sighed, unsure whether her odds would be better if someone came along or not... She wasn't exactly supposed to be letting herself into another house's common room. Although, after the number of times Theo had broken into her dorm...
She forced her mind back to what Daphne had muttered after the last quidditch game. It hadn't been English... Probably Latin. Some language from so long ago, only the Slytherin families would remember even remnants.
"Obs... curium?" She stuttered, eyes glued to the walls for a few seconds before letting out a sigh. "Obscurate... No..." She glanced at her watch again. She had plenty of time to get back upstairs, but she wasn't sure how long she was planning to spend on breaking and entering. "Obscurum?"
The door let out a low rumble as it shifted to the side, the familiar eerie green light of the lake spilling out into the hallway as she grinned, rushing through the passage before it shut.
"And what do you think you're doing?" Grace's eyes found Draco at once, a smile spread over his face as he looked up from the book in his lap.
"Had to escape my common room." She sighed, dropping into the empty chair across from Theo, Draco and Blaise.
"Why's that?" Draco asked, setting his book on the table before them while Grace's gaze flashed to Theo for a second, a proud smirk lining his face as his eyes ran over her face.
"They're all..." She stalled, trying to explain her housemates earlier words.
"Look who it is!" Lorenzo's voice rang through the otherwise quiet common room as he swooped through the doorway leading to the boys dorms and launched himself next to her on the couch. "Where've you been, Abbott?"
"The doctors said I should limit my exposure to loud noises. I'm on a no-Enzo-diet."
"Those are hard to stick to, love." He winked, the boys groans unable to drown out the brunettes laughter.
"Well, Ravenclaw's throwing a party tomorrow..." Grace started, looking between the boys faces. She didn't need to glance to Enzo's to see the excitement painted there.
"You don't say?" He grinned.
"And some of the girls are quite adamant that I invite you all." She explained.
"Is one of those girls you?" Draco asked, unconvinced.
"Course... I'm inviting you, aren't I?" She shrugged, refusing to meet Theo's eyes, though she could practically feel his gaze burning a hole through her skin.
"I'll take names of the girls who are so adamant to see us." Enzo threw an arm lazily over Grace's shoulder as he spoke and Draco cleared his throat, raising one eyebrow at the brunette, though it did nothing to shift Enzo's position.
"I'm pretty sure they were talking about Draco." She grinned, watching Lorenzo's jaw drop before she laughed, shaking her head. "Kidding. I'm kidding!"
"What time's this party?" Blaise finally spoke, pulling his eyes from Enzo and glancing towards Theo.
"Around eight I think..." She said, leaning out from beneath Enzo's shoulder and onto her own half of the couch. "And Theodore." She finally met the dark green eyes across from her. "You've got to promise. No fighting. You have to behave."
"Hah!" Draco chuckled, laughter lighting up his eyes. "That's funny. We're usually saying that to Enzo."
"Well, she didn't say it this time." Enzo sneered, playfully. "Which means I'm planning to be on my worst behavior."
"How could it possibly get any worse?" Blaise asked through half an eye roll and Grace giggled, swallowing the sound quickly as she met Theo's eyes again.
"Where's Daph?" She asked, quickly, hurrying to meet Draco's eye and push the green ones from her mind.
Draco's eyes flickered to Enzo quickly before he shrugged, shaking his head. "Uh.. Dunno. Haven't seen her all night."
"I'll pass along the invite, Abbott." Enzo informed Grace with a mock salute.
"Okay, thanks." Grace nodded, trying to keep her mind from wandering to the younger Greengrass. It was fine. Really, truly fine. If they wanted to invite both of them. That would be... fine.
"I should get going then." Grace stood from the couch and turned towards the door, spinning back to face Draco as he stood beside her.
"I'll walk you." He offered.
"It's fine!" She promised, "Almost curfew."
"I'm a prefect." He smirked.
Theo scoffed from his arm chair, both blondes glancing towards him.
"You haven't been on rounds in weeks."
"I've been busy." Malfoy hissed, shooting his friend an eye roll and reaching for Grace's arm, tugging her gently towards the hall. "Should have just invited me. These idiots are going to make such a scene."
"Well, my housemates really wanted Theo to come... Apparently." She shrugged, watching as Draco glanced behind them once more before the door slid shut, hiding the common room in stone once again.
"Did they?" He mumbled, leading the way up the staircase. "Well.. good. He could use it. Bloody miserable lately."
➺
Grace glanced at the clock above the fireplace for what was surely the tenth time that minute. It had to be broken. It was hardly moving.
"Will you relax?" Leah hissed, elbowing Grace lightly in the arm as the blonde fixed her freshly curled hair over her shoulders. "Loverboy'll be here any minute, and you look great. And, need I remind you that it doesn't matter if he likes you or not. He's stuck with you."
"Thanks, Leah." Grace shot her a glare which only served to widen Leah's grin as she took another sip from her nearly empty drink, widening her eyes and nodding to the doorway behind them.
Grace spun around instantly, her eyes flashing up to meet the gray ones before her at once, a lazy smile painted across his lips.
"Hi." He spoke softly, his voice barely audible over the music pouring from near the fireplace.
"Hi." She smiled, glancing behind him quickly. They had all walked up together, Blaise and Daphne on his heels, though her eyes caught on Enzo and Theo who had been stopped at the door, Mandy Brocklehurst and an older Ravenclaw pouncing on the pair before they had a chance to greet anyone else.
"Grace!" Daphne grinned, practically shoving Malfoy out of her way as she yanked Grace in for a hug. "How fun! I've never ever been up here! They make the riddles so hard, don't you think? I thought we'd be out there all night before Theo-"
"Alright, Greengrass, you're shouting in my ear." Malfoy whined, stepping back beside Grace.
"Come on," Grace bit back a laugh at the pair and nodded towards the windows near the back of the room where everyone had piled half empty bottles of liquors and plastic cups. "I'll get you guys drinks?"
"Enzo and Theo are going to be sober all night at this rate." Blaise chuckled, and Grace let herself glance to the boys once again, heat flooding into her chest at the sight. The familiar dark stare, the smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth, the way Theo seemed to lean so easily into the Ravenclaw's space.
She continued through the crowd until they reached the drink, though Draco pushed her hands out of the way as she reached for the cups.
"You're not making me a drink." He grinned, sloshing a large pour of dark liquid over some ice in his cup before passing a matching one to Blaise behind them. "What are you drinking?" He nodded at Grace's cup in her hand and she shrugged.
"Umm... I don't really know. Leah made it and I'm very proud of myself for even drinking this much."
He smiled, vanishing the rest of the liquid in her cup with ease and grabbing a new one for Daphne, pouring some clear liquor over their ice and filling it the rest of the way with some pink looking juice before handing them back out.
"Oh, I love this song!" Daphne screamed, Grace wincing yet letting the laughter fall from her lips as Daphne pulled her towards the dance floor which was crowded with older students already.
Daphne threw her glass into the air as the chorus began and then stole a glance behind them to make sure the boys hadn't followed before she leaned into her friend.
"Guess what."
"That's very vague." Grace laughed and Daphne giggled, nervously.
"I have a date next weekend." She grinned, mysteriously.
"What? For Hogsmeade?" She asked, Daphne nodding. "Does this have anything to do with why you weren't in the common room last night?"
Daphne's jaw dropped slightly, glancing around again before going on. "You bitch. Maybe. Did Draco tell you that?"
"Draco knew?" Grace glanced back at the blonde who was thankfully in a deep discussion now with Blaise and one of the Ravenclaw Quidditch players.
"Ugh, I can't get anything past him, he's impossible." She rolled her eyes.
"Well, are you going to tell me who it's with?" Grace scanned the room again, her stomach tightening nervously. Daphne was always with the boys... She thought back to Christmas, Draco telling her they've all taken Daphne to the balls once or twice...
"Graham Montague." She whispered after what felt like ages, and Grace felt her stomach relax.
"Oh, the captain?" Daphne nodded, excitedly. "And what did you two do last night?"
"Oh, it's not like that. Shut up." She promised, "He was the perfect gentleman, we just walked around the castle. He's probably going to be Head Boy next year. I think Daddy will like him." She smiled mostly to herself now and Grace felt her gaze drawn towards the drink table once again where Enzo was watching the girls with a soft smile as he sloshed much more than a shot into his drink.
"Well, we'll have dinner that night then and you can tell me all about it." Grace hurried to snap her attention back to her friend. "You know, assuming you're available for dinner."
"You're bad." Daphne laughed, her eyes lighting up as Enzo approached the both of them. "Berkshire, you'd better slow down, I saw how much you put in that drink."
"Can't keep your eyes off me, can you, Daph?" He teased and she rolled her eyes.
"So you going to make me beg, or are you going to dance with me?" He smirked and Daphne shook her head, shaking her empty glass in his face.
"I suppose I'm going to make you beg. I'll be back." She quipped, sliding easily through the crowd towards the drinks once again. Enzo turned his gaze towards Grace who's eyes flickered now between the brunette before her and Daphne's retreating form.
"Well, that leaves you and me, Abbott." He shrugged, the famous Berkshire grin never slipping from his face.
"Enz, I honestly don't think I could handle it." Grace laughed, nerves settling at the bottom of her stomach as his hand slipped to her waist, pulling her closer. "Stop!" She giggled, squirming out of his reach.
"One dance! I'll be on my best behavior, three whole minutes, promise!" His white teeth flashed through a smile as Grace let him pull her close once again, his palm pressing flat against her back as he spun her easily through the gap of students.
"Alright." Draco's voice cut in, Grace's eyes snapping up to meet the dark gray ones. "Quit trying to woo my fiancé, would you, Berkshire?"
"Oh, Malfoy, if I wanted to woo her, she'd already be mine." Enzo teased, and Grace laughed nervously, though Enzo didn't seem to care about Draco's dark gaze. "Alright, she's all yours." He threw his hands up in surrender before turning to look through the crowd for his next victim.
"You need another drink?" Draco leaned in, his voice low as he nodded down at her empty cup.
"Sure." She nodded, knowing he couldn't hear her over the music and allowed him to tug her easily away from the crowds of dancers. They were barely halfway to the drinks when he paused, turning towards her a running his fingers through his hair nervously.
"Listen..." He mumbled, "Just... you... tell me if you want to dance. We can. If you want."
Grace stared up at him through wide eyes, glancing back at the growing crowd behind them now.
"I just mean... I'd like... We could dance, I just don't know if you want to address all of that. If people ask questions, I mean."
"Draco..." She shook her head, "We don't have to-"
"No, I know." He shrugged, "I just know... you know, girls like dancing."
Grace laughed under her breath, "Yeah, I suppose."
"It's complicated."
"Yeah." She nodded, "I don't... need everyone to know yet... if you don't."
"Right." He agreed, "Me neither."
"Alright."
"Alright..." He smiled, "Let me get you another drink then."
"Okay." She offered him her cup and leaned back against the wall to wait for him. Next year. Next year they would be at every party together. At school and at home. At the manor, every holiday, family dinners, galas... there would be plenty of time to dance together, and he was right. She really didn't feel like answering everyone's questions tomorrow just because she had been dancing with Draco Malfoy.
She glanced around the room, looking for Leah or Daphne, though her eyes fell once again to the tall, tan brunette she had been trying to avoid the whole night so far. She didn't like the way her blood practically boiled beneath her skin at the sight of him each time. It was a different girl now, one Grace had never seen before. She probably wasn't even a Ravenclaw, though she was taller. Taller than Grace, practically tall enough that Theo's lips could almost touch hers if he'd wanted them to. Grace could hardly tell which of them was leaning into the other.
She watched as he let the girl trace her fingers down the arm of his sweater, pulling his hand between them and brushing over his ring. She watched as his lips curled into a smirk as the girl giggled and whispered something to him that Grace would never have been able to hear, even if the music wasn't roaring over the voices of the party.
She huffed out a breath and tore her eyes away from the scene, glancing down and looking over her fingernails to make sure each one was perfectly even before she felt the warmth along her back, the heat of his breath on her neck.
"What's wrong, Gracie?" Theo's voice was low, as if he expected that anyone would be able to hear him, tucked in the corner, the music blaring through the common room.
Grace jumped away, spinning to face him, her lips curling into a frown.
"Don't do that." She ordered, rubbing along her neck, forcing the feeling of his breath off her skin.
"Do what?" He chuckled, leaning lazily against the wall, towering over her and watching as she fixed her hair to cover her neck.
"What do you need?"
Theo shrugged, still watching her with his dark stare.
"Well, don't let me keep you. Your little fan club will hate me for stealing you away-" She trailed off as he began to laugh. "What?"
"My fan club?"
"Yeah." She bit back, all common sense thrown to the wind. "Oh, Theodore, I love your ring, I love your sweater." She pitched her voice into a mock impression of the girl across the room despite never having met her before. "Stop laughing!"
"Sorry." He threw his hands up in mock surrender, though she didn't believe him. She was scrambling for something to say, something witty, until he took another step towards her, his smirk growing wider. "You're cute when you're jealous."
"What?" She scoffed, her eyes flashing to his and hating the way her stomach flipped.
"Yeah. Glaring at me across the room, your little pout." He reached up slowly, his fingers sliding along her jaw until his thumb could pull gently on her bottom lip.
"Piss off, Nott." She fumed, stepping back out of his reach, his eyes rolling towards the ceiling just once.
"Nott, Nott, Nott." He grumbled, "Like my last name that much do you, bellissima?"
"You're infuriating." She muttered, glancing around the room in search of Draco. Or Daphne, or Leah, or Terry at this point, even though she hadn't seen him since the party started.
"Am I?" Theo grinned, obviously unfazed. "How about it, Gracie? If I put a ring on your finger before Malfoy does-"
"You're really not funny." She turned, hardly making it one step away before his fingers closed around her arm, pulling her back to face him, one hand landing on her waist to steady her before she could collapse into his chest.
"Who's laughing?" He asked, his expression for once painfully solemn. She stared up at him for a few moments in silence, tracing over the deep green eyes, the specks of brown lacing the middle. "Do you want to kiss me as much as I want to kiss you right now?"
"What?" His words broke her from her trance, though she didn't back away, his hands still holding her close. "No?"
"No?"
"Theodore, what is wrong with you?"
"You're so hot when you're angry." He smirked, his voice teasing as she felt the heat rise to her cheeks.
"You... I... I'm en..."
"Say it." He ordered, raising one eyebrow. "Go on. Say it." He waited a few moments, watching her mouth open and shut before nodding to himself. "You can't. Because it's bullshit."
"What happened to you being on your best behavior?" Grace huffed, wishing she didn't feel so light headed, as if she hadn't had a full breath of air since he'd walked over.
"You're not going to marry him." Theo said, finally, though sounding as if he was talking mostly to himself.
"It's... complicated."
"Sure." Theo nodded, the smile making it's way back to his face as he nodded to Grace's left. "Here comes prince charming."
Grace glanced over, meeting Draco's eyes with a smile before looking back to the now empty spot before her where all that was left of Theo was the scent of his cologne and the nerves he had left in the pit of her stomach.